Tag: Doubt

I was contemplating what to write about this morning, so I went to my Bible app. Instead of looking at the verse of the day, I clicked the button to take me to the Bible so I could browse through. Interestingly enough, instead of bringing me to Genesis as it usually does, it brought me to Luke and not only that it didn’t start from the top it scrolled itself down to a specific verse and I’ll insert the screen shot if it’ll let me!

Luke 1:45 is what I was brought to. “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her!” (NIV)

I found it rather curious that I should be brought to this verse when it involves pregnancy. Mary was visited by an angel who explained to her that she would carry the Son of God. Mary went to tell her relative, Elizabeth, about the news she received. Elizabeth herself was in her 6th month of pregnancy and was said to be unable to conceive and those words in Luke 1:45 are Elizabeth speaking, overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit!

At the end of pregnancy it’s natural and “normal” to feel more anxious and apprehensive. You’re tired and worn out and thinking about so much to come. I feel guilty a lot as my anxiety can get the better of my mind at times. Again, my mind works against me a lot of the time, in what can be very cynical ways; the guilt comes from my knowledge of needing to guard my mind yet too often the enemy sneaks in. I can ignore a lot but then at other times I entertain those false and negative thoughts too much which then gives the enemy satisfaction as he has now created doubt. It can be frustrating because I am a firm believer that God can do anything, ANYTHING and that nothing is impossible with Him, yet these negative thoughts cause doubt and that doubt kind of contradicts my firmly planted beliefs. I don’t mean for it to, but when you’re on the outside looking in, I’m sure one would wonder, “how can she believe so strongly, yet allow fear to enter her mind?”

Before I became pregnant this time, as with all the other times I prayed about it. I prayed to God, if I should be blessed with another baby, please only allow it if the baby and I and my family will be safe and healthy-before, during and after for many, many more years to come. I prayed this often. When I became pregnant I took that as a sign of an answered prayer and a promise from God. He heard me and this was Him saying I am blessing you and all will be well, before and during and after; you are protected. I also prayed He would lead me to the best place for me to give birth. I trust that I will end up where I need to be. My last birth was a home birth and I feel led to do this one at home as well and I am confident God will be right with me and reminding me of His promise to me.

I have had some whacky things occur towards the end of this pregnancy and it has thrown me off a bit with the anxiety and I feel as though this is the enemy hearing my confidence in the Lord and trying to rattle me and feed me that doubt. I must admit, he does sometimes get to me, but I know he attacks the most when your faith is strongest! So that in itself is a sign that I am on the right path for myself, this new baby and my family as a whole.

With all of this being said, that is why I was taken aback to have my app bring me straight to verses having to do with pregnancy and tellings of birth promises. When I have viewed this pregnancy as an answered prayer and a promise from God, to see those words and be brought straight to them (when that’s not even the norm for the app) well, I see that as just more reassurance from God who knows how to comfort me 🙌❤

I pray today for those reading this who maybe are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, that they trust in You no matter what they may be told by anyone else. I pray their minds would be guarded from the enemy and their faith in You unwavering. I pray also for those not pregnant who, like me, struggle with anxiety and guarding their minds. Please helps us all to trust in you fully and ignore the poisonous words planted in our minds by Satan himself. May we realize that the enemy attacks most the closer we are to God! I pray for our faith to be strong, our courage to be plentiful, our doubts to be non-existent and Your protection to be all around us, consuming us. I pray always in Your name, Amen! 🙏🙌

How many times have you felt so confident in something and then doubt slithered its way into your mind? Doubt can be a product of our own thought process OR it can be placed there both intentionally or non-intentionally by others. No matter how doubt is produced, it has one main objective…steal/kill happiness or contentment. When we are on the right path in our lives and all is going well, that is when doubt likes to feed. I personally believe doubt to be yet another manipulation sent out by Satan himself. Who else gets more enjoyment out of dismantling us? He’s like a vulture who waits to pick us apart slowly, piece by piece.

To me, doubt can come hand in hand with anxiety, fear, low self-esteem, worry and the like. It can be just as hard to rid yourself of as well. I once said, someone telling me “don’t worry” is equivalent to telling me not to breathe; it seems simple, yet it can be hard to reprogram how we think. Doubt is another thing that does not do us any good, yet we can’t help but open the door and let it on in. There are so many quotes about doubt that ring true and I will add a few.

“Over thinking kills your happiness.”

“Don’t dig up in doubt what you planted in faith.”-Elizabeth Elliot

“The doubters are just dreamers with broken hearts.”-Atticus

“Not every thought you think is TRUE, and not every thought you think is YOU.”

We may be prone to doubt because we have been let down or our hearts have been broken too many times. We may be very untrusting and doubt arises from that. We may have doubts about many things we do because family, friends or even acquaintances along the way have planted seeds of doubt in our minds. Some individuals purposely plant doubts in our minds out of jealousy; they see great things happening for you and that’s their way of trying to bring you back to their level of unhappiness. Again, no matter how doubt forms itself in our lives, we have the power to throw it out. It usually strikes at times when you are on the right track and have things figured out and when your faith is strongest; don’t let it steal that joy and peace you have! Kill doubt with more positive thinking!! The more thoughts of doubt that begin to pop up in your mind, counter them with positive thoughts and affirmations. It reminds me of something I tell my son about fear…tell it to go away, and that it’s not real! Our God is bigger than any issues that come into our lives, we just have to do our best to rely upon Him and not be shaken! Let us keep out feet firmly planted in faith! Let us know that we are confident and doubt cannot take it away unless we let it!

I pray for all of us feeling any kind of doubt in our lives…whether it’s doubt about school, career paths, parenting, faith, appearance, capabilities, health etc. I pray all of us find our peace and let that and our inner confidence overcome our doubts. Fear likes to feed us doubt and I pray we continue to recognize that most of our worries and doubts are caused by fear and the majority of the time, they have no merit at all! May we stay strong in our faith and know that God is for us, not against us. He is there to have a personal relationship with us and is willing to help us out in any way.